If we choose to focus on everything a child cannot do, we fail to recognize their gifts. The educational system had a way of reflecting all of my weaknesses. But as a child, the library and books became my sanctuary-a quiet place to escape the noise and step into magical worlds filled with fairies and fantasy.
I developed a love for reading early on, which helped me flourish into a full-blown bookworm. Books and words became my neurodivergent love language. I found friends in the pages I read, and each word felt like magic. That magic inspired me to pick up a pen and start writing my own short stories and poems. Writing nourished me. It made me feel alive. It never judged me for being different—it gave me space to create a world entirely my own.
By six years old, I had already decided I wanted to become a writer. My parents gifted me an old typewriter my mom found at a garage sale, and it quickly became my best friend. I truly believe that God blessed me with the gift of writing to balance my struggles and to give me a voice I could use to uplift others in the neurodivergent community.
Writing is powerful. It gives voice to the voiceless. Words can shift perspectives and create new understandings. For me, writing became a therapeutic way to explore all the broken, hidden pieces I saw as scars and in the process, helped me feel whole again.
In an ableism world that constantly reflected my perceived “weaknesses,” writing became the air I needed to breathe. I was the quietest student in the room, but inside my head, the words were the loudest. A notebook and pen were all I needed.
Language and words filled every corner of my life. Writing opened up my most vulnerable places and validated my gifts. It accepted me without judgment. It was the one place I could fully demask and be myself.
As I grew, my love for reading evolved. I became fascinated by Shakespeare. Though I struggled with basic math, I could understand Shakespearean English. Shakespeare was my first true love. I admired how he meticulously wove words together so beautifully. Later, during my teen years, I became absorbed in the Harry Potter and Twilight series. That’s the thing about NVLD when we’re interested in something, we go all in. For me, that something was books.
My mom nurtured my passion by signing me up for the summer reading program at our local library. In both elementary and high school, I joined reading clubs. In high school, I chose Writer’s Craft, a course that allowed me to publish my first poem, Unattainable Beauty, in the poetry anthology Midnight Sun. I also received both an English and Writing Award in high school.
Later, in 2024 I had my first academic publication, Chasing Time, published in Knots: An Undergraduate Journal of Disability Studies. The piece explored the concept of crimp time in relation to disability and chronic illness as part of my undergraduate Disability Studies thesis.
Reading and writing are the foundation of my soul identity and I believe I have NVLD to thank for that. My writing has witnessed every version and era of myself. Even during the times I stepped away, I always wrote my way home again.
Writing is more than words on paper. It saved me. It made me whole. It gave me wings I didn’t know I had. Through writing, I learned to weave the parts of myself together and love the journey of becoming. I was that little girl who fell in love with words and writing helped me nourish and accept myself.
Writing, I believe, is a neurodivergent superpower. It allows us to harness a voice we didn’t know we had. It’s a shared love language for many neurodivergent people. We use words as a form of resilience, and we find strength in the stories of others.
In a society that tries to erase our experiences through labels, tools, and ablest interventions, reclaiming our voice is a radical act of self-care. The world needs more neurodivergent writers and voices. For too long, neurotypical experts have dominated the narrative about disability, and in doing so, have diluted the authenticity of lived experience.
If I want to see change in this world, I have to be part of creating it. That means writing my truth and paving a path for others like me to do the same.
Megan
